Alaskan Vigil
by sagittariusa
Summary: A new Admiral is assigned to a remote Alaskan naval base to command a small group of kanmusu (herein called shipgirls). This story is about her growth as a commander, and the girls' lives as soldiers. Some chapters may follow a 'slice-of-life' feel, while others may be more serious and dramatic. Some mature themes of past violence and death may be hinted at. US kanmusu.
1. Chapter 1: A Frontierswoman

Alaskan Vigil

Chapter 1: A Frontierswoman

Ellen's head ached softly due to the numb roar of the twin propeller engines of the aircraft. She had been trying for what seemed like an eternity to find some sleep on the long flight to the remote Aleutian Islands. She was so jealous of her sister back in San Francisco.

"Cheer up, Sis! You're a Rear Admiral now! You're going to be commanding some of those shipgirls. Even I have friends who would kill for the chance at command!"

"It's in motherfucking Alaska. Nowhereville, Alaska."

"Oh, come on. All I get to do is enjoy the warm, golden sunshine of California, and all the luxuries of living in a major city. You get to command powerful shipgirls right on the frontier! Where's your American frontier spirit, sis?"

Ellen looked at her sister, and wanted to punch her big fat grin. She chose to retort with a low groan.

Ellen felt something soft and warm fall onto her shoulders. She looked back to her left to see her brother putting a heavy coat onto her. "You'll be needing this, Frontierswoman. If I had the time, I'd buy you a fur hat to complete the look."

Ellen chose to groan at him too, but also held the coat tight. It was warmer that what she had already packed.

As she tried to sleep through the propellers for the thousandth time, the voice of the pilot came through the plane.

"Nearing Unalaska Naval Base. Prepare for landing."

What a stupid name

XXX

Ellen stepped out of the plane into a blast of cold air. She would have grasped her coat tighter to her, but her hands were already busy shielding her ears from the barrage of sound coming from the propeller. After she had stepped a few feet from the plane she looked up and saw a large figure standing nearby. She started walking towards this woman, while looking around at her surroundings. She saw a tiny control tower a short distance away, maybe about three stories tall, a large bay, and she could see the small settlements of the town of Unalaska some distance away. Now that she had made her way further from the propellers, she was able to relax her posture, and looked again at the woman she was walking to.

The woman gave a brief salute before introducing herself. "Battleship 38, Pennsylvania. At your service, Rear Admiral Rhodes."

That was fast. She was expecting to be greeted by one of the human staff, and taken to the office building to meet the shipgirls. Normally they weren't allowed off of the base and let loose around civilian areas. She made a note to herself to look into this later. She gave a brief salute as well before introducing herself in kind, "Rear Admiral Ellen Rhodes, good to meet you."

XXX

The battleship drove her to the office building on the base with one of the base's jeeps. She seemed to be a quiet woman, which Ellen appreciated. Ellen wasn't a very gregarious person either. If the navy wasn't in a wartime state, she probably would have had a much harder time navigating peacetime officer politics, but fortunately for Ellen the navy was willing to overlook her lacking sociability in favor of her performance.

After she was assigned to Unalaska, she had made some initial judgments of what she might expect from the shipgirls. The Pennsylvania and the heavy cruisers were heavily involved with the early parts of the war, fighting hard on the front line. When Hawaii was first lost to the Abyssals, and America forced to fall back, the three ships were part of the evacuation escort fleets. They were also part of the "Core Four", the four main fleets tasked with an offensive-defensive strategy written by Admiral Johnson, meaning they were there for both Hawaii's fall and recovery. Ellen couldn't even begin to imagine how many Abyssals those three ships had sunk. As newer, stronger shipgirls started to be constructed in California, older and exhausted ships were being rotated to the flanks of the US' defensive perimeter. America couldn't afford to pull them back home for rest, so being stationed here in Alaska was the best they could do.

What Ellen was warned of was the possibility that the older ships like Pennsylvania would form cliques that would divide them from newer ships. One of her duties here was to force intermingling between newer and older ships, so that the newer ships could get better experience. If Pennsylvania's quiet demeanor was the norm, than this might be difficult.

Pennsylvania entered the small naval base. The 'base' was mainly a collection of one and two story wooden buildings. On the water's edge there were a few concrete piers, of which three vessels were moored. One small tanker and one small cargo ship, which were in the process of being unloaded, as well as the USS Porter, an old Arleigh Burke class destroyer, to be used as a mobile command base and occasionally as a way to transport large amounts of shipgirls while conserving fuel. There was also a small concrete inlet of shallow water that the shipgirls often used for training. By the piers was the tallest building in the base, the factory, with a pair of small truck cranes to maneuver resources around the harbor. Further into the base were the administration building, where Ellen would be working, the cafeteria, and a recreation center for the girls. The dormitories and the warehouse were furthest from the water, probably to protect them from naval bombardment. The dormitories were housed in a single, long, two story building. It was probably the most robust building in the base, build with reinforced concrete to protect any sleeping girls in case of a surprise night bombardment. Ellen was told that an emergency concrete bunker was housed under the dormitories, which she wanted to see herself. The entire base was surrounded by a double line of barbed wire, with a single entrance guarded by a concrete guardhouse.

XXX

Ellen settled into the leather Admiral's chair. It was a little too big, and she hoped she didn't look ridiculous in it. If she did, then Pennsylvania's impenetrable face did not show it.

"As the secretary ship of the late Admiral Perry, I've already filled out most of your paperwork. I've left what remains on your desk. Until you choose your secretary ship, I will take that role. I assume that you will want to interview the ships under your command?"

"Thank you. Yes. I've compiled an order of the interviews." Ellen opened the binder delivered to her desk and took out a sheet of paper. She took a pen from the desk and pulled out the first sheet of paperwork. Perhaps she could start with some small talk as she worked through her paperwork. "So, what was it that happened to Admiral Perry?" Fuck. Why did she say that out loud? She wanted to bash her head into this new desk for her dreadful conversational skills.

"He was killed aboard the destroyer USS Higgins during our latest operation to probe the Abyssals' northern positions." The battleship replied with a straight face, seemingly unfazed by Ellen's immediate launch into the morbid topic.

Ellen abandoned her hopes of opening conversation with the battleship and began to silently fill out paperwork.


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting the Ships

Chapter 2: Meeting the Ships

Although her attempt to make small talk with the battleship ended in a disastrous failure, she was still able to attempt it during the interviews.

"So, Astoria, how long have you been at this base?"

"I've been here for about 8 months now."

"How did you manage it in the winter? It's so cold here."

"All you need to do is layer up on clothing. It also doesn't hurt that us shipgirls are naturally more tolerant of cold than humans."

Damn. This is going well! She's a nice, friendly ship. "So, as a part of the venerable New Orleans class of-"

"IT'S THE ASTORIA CLASS! THAT LITTLE FRENCH BITCH STOLE MY CLASS NAME!" The woman's friendly demeanor instantly changed from a friendly face to terrifying rage at the mention of the name 'New Orleans'. She immediately launched into an angry rant on the New Orleans.

Ellen practically shrunk a foot under the verbal onslaught of the cruiser. It didn't help that she could literally beat Ellen to a pulp with her superhuman strength. "I-I'm sorry, Astoria class." The ship instantly returned to a warm, friendly face when Ellen called her the Astoria class, but Ellen made a mental note to not fuck with this woman.

Houston was a little more sane. "I heard the shouting from my colleague from downstairs. Just don't mention 'New Orleans' nearby her and she'll be one of the friendliest ships you could meet."

Ellen sighed. "I sure hope so."

The light carrier, Princeton had the reserved, calm state of mind expected of her larger, standard carrier colleagues, offering to give the Admiral a tour of their dormitories after the interviews were done. Belleau Wood was the opposite, a fiery, passionate woman with the soul of a battleship, she came charging into the office with a marine globe and anchor, and ranted for a few minutes about her battle exploits, though it was obvious that she was inflating her own importance.

The light cruisers were a little more like Ellen expected. Boise spoke with a soft, maternal tone, and pat the Omaha sisters on the head as she left the office. The destroyers were super cute, especially the very close Clemson sisters. O'Brien surprised Ellen the most, coming in clearly drunk, with the younger Mahan trying her best to hold O'Brien back to hide her drunkenness. How the little destroyer was able to get ahold of alcohol when she looked like a 14 year old was beyond Ellen. Eventually Boise came back in and warned her that it was fruitless to try to keep alcohol from O'Brien, who seemingly could 'find alcohol anywhere", even if she were "a thousand miles into the pacific.'

XXX

She finally finished with the final interview, and waved goodbye to little Mahan. She took a relived breath, and looked at Pennsylvania.

"It is my time for an interview, right?" Ellen nodded. The battleship sat down in the chair in front of the admiral, and Ellen briefly flinched when the chair creaked and threatened to break under the battleship's powerful figure. It held.

"You've been here for about eight months, right?"

"Yeah. It's kind of nice here, even with the cold."

"Were you the first battleship assigned here?"

"Yes. Previously, the navy didn't have enough ships to have a battleship stationed here. They were too badly needed to defend California from invasion, or for the counterattack to take back Hawaii. They used to rely heavily on human aircraft to support the light shipgirl force in Anchorage. The Aleutian Islands were actually abandoned until about a year ago, since we simply didn't have the forces to hold them. Fortunately, the Abyssals ignored the islands while we were gone, for the most part. They established a small base at Atka, further west, but we managed to hit them by surprise while reestablishing our presence here."

"We were supposed to receive a large submarine force from California and resupply them so that they could push west and try to reestablish contact with Russia, Japan, and the old world. With the Atlantic so firmly locked down, and Iceland, Bermuda, and the Canaries, etc turned into a major bases by the Abyssals, it seemed like the Bering Sea was the best way to try to contact them. Unfortunately, the submarine force was delayed by the last major Abyssal campaign to try to take Hawaii again. By the time the submarines arrived, they were too small in number to safely reach anywhere but Kamchatka, and when they discovered that the peninsula was occupied by the Abyssals, the whole operation was called off. Now the Abyssals have had the time to fortify their hold on the Bering Sea, so we've lost our opportunity."

"Have you ever felt lonely by being the only battleship here, Pennsylvania?"

The battleship hesitated for a moment. It seemed like she did not expect that kind of personal question. "Sometimes it is, but the heavy cruisers and the Boise can usually cheer me back up." She looked back up to the admiral and gave a brief smile. "And sometimes I go and pat the Clemson sisters."

Ellen laughed and smiled. "They're adorable, aren't they?"

The battleship looked down again. "Also, Admiral, you can call me Penn if you'd like."

Ellen kept looking at her. "And you can call me Ellen. This is a small base. There's no need for much formality, I suspect."

Penn smiled.


	3. Chapter 3: The Carriers

Chapter 3: The Carriers

Night had fallen, and the office was lit by florescent light. Ellen finally managed to finish most of the paperwork. After she had put down her pen, Penn turned to her. "Do you have a better idea of who you want to be your secretary ship? Of course, with such a small base, she'll only be available between sorties."

"Yeah, I've narrowed it down yourself, Princeton, Houston, and the Fletcher class destroyer Bache."

Penn lifted an eyebrow. "One of those is not like the others."

"The first three are who I most want to be my secretary ship, but I also figure I should also consider limiting my selection to a destroyer, so that it will be easier to keep her here."

"That is a good point. Many of your colleagues choose to make a destroyer, or at larger bases, a cruiser their secretary ship, to reduce the impact on sorties."

"It's going to be a bit of a tough decision. I'll have to sleep on it. Can you send records of previous sortie compositions and frequency to my room?"

"Sure, Admiral. I'm sure it will make excellent bedroom reading materiel."

Ellen groaned. Pennsylvania's sarcasm reminded her of her siblings.

XXX

The next day, Ellen intended to take Princeton up on the offer of a tour around the dormitories. Since the Admiral's room was also in the dormitory, she did not have to go far to look for the light carrier. The building seemed much too big for the small task force stationed on the island. There were only 16 shipgirls on the base, and almost all of the human staff lived in the town. Only about 24 people actually lived on the base, including the Admiral. Yet the dormitory had 36 rooms, most of which had two beds. Ellen thought that maybe it was so large so that the expeditionary force that Penn talked about could sleep there, or perhaps the navy was simply 'future-proofing' the base for a larger force. Either way, the shipgirls who lived there were happy with the situation, since they could all sleep in private rooms.

She encountered the Clemson sisters first. The girls slept next door to each other, and seemed to be around each other everywhere they went. Even though they were super adorable, Ellen knew that they were a clique and that she should find a way to get them to interact with the heavier ships more.

Kane was playing around with her sisters. "…and it was such a cool game!"

"You only like those old games because the villain has the same name as you." Gilmer seemed to have some grouchy tendencies, but with a name like that, it's easy to understand why.

"They're classics! You can't beak 'em! And the villain is great! He's charismatic and smart and-"

The little Fox tugged on Kane's sleeve. She spoke with such a soft and timid voice. "The admiral is here." She pointed at Ellen.

"Oh, I don't want to bother you girls much, but do you know where Princeton is?"

Kane pointed further down the hall. "Room 35".

"Thank you girls." Ellen walked past the arguing destroyers. When she arrived at the door, she knocked.

Princeton's voice called, "Come in."

Ellen opened the door and walked in. The two light carriers were sitting on Princeton's bed. Belleau Wood spoke first. "Are you here to ask me to show you my moves?" She flexed her muscles. They were barely larger than Ellen's, and tiny compared to Penn's.

"Sister, I offered to give her a tour of our dormitory after my interview."

Belleau rolled her eyes. "Well, then I'll go out and practice my moves in the inlet." She turned to Ellen. "If you want to see what I've got, just come out to the docks." Her confidence cheered up Ellen.

"Maybe later, but I look forward to it." Ellen winked at Belleau. It was apparently the right thing to say, as the light carrier's face began to practically glow with confidence.

After Belleau left the room, Princeton stood up and shook Ellen's hand. "Welcome to our humble dorm, Admiral."

"It's a nice little place. Very spacious."

Princeton laughed. "Yes, we're very happy with it. It may not be as furnished as what they have in California, but Unalaska has its own advantages."

XXX

Ellen followed the light carrier around the dorm. "We have 36 rooms, 20 on the first floor and 16 on the upper floor, four bathrooms and eight showers. We have two lounges, one on the upper and one on the lower floor, which include a small kitchen. In the basement we also have a large supply room with toiletries, maintenance supplies, and a large supply of perishable and non-perishable food." The carrier showed her all around the building, from the upper floor to the basement.

When Princeton finished showing Ellen the basement, the Admiral asked about the Bunker. "I hear that there's a concrete bunker under the dormitory. Can I see it?"

"Sure. It's important that you know where it is, in case of a bombardment on the base." She opened up a door in the basement leading to stairs leading further down. After a few steps, they turned a corner and saw the roof change materiel. They saw a heavy iron door. Princeton pulled a lever on the right side of the door, and pulled it open. She reached around the door and flicked a switch on the wall, next to the door. Lights came on and lit a medium size, concrete bunker. Large concrete supports stood in a square near the middle of the room. The walls were covered by shelves filled with supplies. There was another iron door further back. "On the other side of the far door is more supplies and room, along with a generator for the lights and a ventilation system."

"Nice. It looks like it could fit everyone, too."

"Yeah. Right now we use it for a bit of storage, and we like to have Halloween parties down here. If you put dim lights around, and decorate it well, it can look really spooky!"

Halloween party. Ellen never really thought much about if shipgirls celebrated holidays.

XX

After Princeton's tour ended, Ellen felt like heading to the dock to look around and maybe watch some ships training. Eventually, she would have to see how her subordinates fight, and how to use them effectively. She knew at least Belleau would be training there. The carrier was talking a lot of smack, and it was time to see how she stood up.

As she approached the dock, she saw the carrier dashing about and firing planes off of her flight deck. For a few minutes she decided to hide around the corner of the factory, and see how the carrier performed without knowing she was being observed.

Ellen had, of course, seen shipgirls training. There were courses at Westpoint all about working with shipgirls while they train. She had also seen the videos that the government periodically releases of naval victories in the Pacific and Atlantic fronts. The navy especially liked to release video of Enterprise destroying Abyssals, and was trying to use her as a hero symbol for recruitment and resource conservation purposes. Still, there was something vaguely different about watching this little carrier train without having the pressure of being observed. Her movements and her aiming were both relaxed and calm. After a couple of minutes, she came out from behind the factory. She decided to time it while the carrier was aiming just for fun. "Hey, Belleau." The carrier jumped. Ellen felt a moment of satisfaction at surprising a shipgirl.

Belleau's reply was still bubbling with confidence anyway. "Hey, Admiral! You ready to see some _real_ stuff?"

Ellen decided to see if she could spice up the scene. "Impress me and I'll treat you to your favorite restaurant."

It worked. The carrier's smile was as bright as the sun. "Hope you have enough for a big Alaskan crab dinner!"

"Just don't hurt yourself, else you'll be the one paying. Deal?" Ellen didn't want her playful bet to get the ship hurt.

"Deal."

While Belleau proceeded to show off her skills, footsteps came up from behind Ellen. Houston appeared on her right. "Having some fun with Belleau, I see? She really enjoys showing off."

"It looks like I'm going to be paying for a crab dinner tonight." Ellen smiled at Houston.

"I see you've been watching her from behind the factory. Judging us?"

Ellen's face immediately went red. "I-I was just curious…"

"Well, as a new Admiral, judging our performance is the right thing to do. Just don't go peeking into the showers." Houston laughed, and Ellen nervously laughed too. The cruiser poked her in the shoulder. "I'm just kidding."

After a moment of watching Belleau, Houston spoke up again. "Since it looks like you're already going to be busy for dinner tonight, perhaps I can invite you to dinner in your office tomorrow? You're not the only one judging others."

As Houston walked away, Ellen's face remained a deep red. Belleau called out: "Looks like you're embarrassed by my AWESOMENESS, as you should be! I'm eating good tonight!"

Real life is always different from what they prepare you for in school, eh?


	4. Chapter 4: Pizza and Stories

Chapter 4: Pizza and Stories

As Houston put the pizza on the desk and took some slices, Ellen wasn't entirely sure what to do. Houston's little comment about judgment upset Ellen's understanding of shipgirls and their role in the navy. Clearly she underestimated them. Houston had taken the initiative, and began first.

"So, Admiral, why did you join the navy?" It seemed that the tables had turned, and now Ellen was being interviewed.

"I joined long before the Abyssals and shipgirls, obviously. My parents made me stay at a family friend's house. Since he was an officer in the Navy, they figured he would be able to straighten me up. Instead he fed me ice cream and watched TV with me. But one day he took me to the Pacific Fleet to see the aircraft carrier he was stationed on. Seeing all of those powerful, beautiful warships made such an impression on me that I eventually joined the navy to become an officer."

"Hmm. That's it?" She asked. Ellen shrugged. "Not exactly the typical reasons. Interesting. Where've you been for this war? What did you command before us?"

"Well, I became captain of the USS Dewey, DDG-105, in the Caribbean."

"Wasn't the Dewey involved in something there?

"Yes. I commanded her during the battle of Guadeloupe. It's probably why I was invited to retrain to be a shipgirl commander."

"Ah, yes. That's where it was. I just remember South Carolina speaking very highly of what the Dewey did."

"I did what I had to. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

"Then I hope that your lucky timing continues." Houston was already on her fourth slice of pizza. Ellen was initially skeptical when she brought four large pizzas, but now that skepticism was expelled. She clearly had the appetite to eat all of them. "I'm sure you know where I served."

"Yes. The Hawaii campaigns. Brutal stuff."

The cruiser nodded. "So many girls have been sunk over those barren islands. It seems like a waste to spend so much blood to hold on to a couple islands long since burned to ash by the Abyssals, but I understand that it is not really Hawaii we are fighting to defend, but California and the west coast."

Ellen decided to try to change the tone of the conversation. "I was on vacation in Hawaii for a few weeks."

"Oh, really?"

"Oh yeah," Ellen mumbled through a slice of pizza, "I saw Pearl Harbor, the volcano, saw some lava, all that good stuff."

"Hmm. Ever been to Alaska?"

"Hell naw. Too cold."

"I bet you shivered when you heard you got deployed here."

"Yep. Born and raised in the Bay, cruised around the sunny Caribbean for a while, then deployed to this tundra."

Houston laughed, and grabbed another two slices of pizza.

XXX

The next morning, Ellen entered her office. Penn, ever dutiful, was already sitting in her secretary desk. "I've made a decision regarding my secretary ship." Penn stood at attention. "I'm going to make Houston my secretary ship."

The battleship's eyes betrayed a momentary pang of disappointment, but quickly returned to normal. "Yes, ma'am."


	5. Chapter 5: The First Sortie

Chapter 5: The First Sortie

Ellen and Houston were in the office, planning out the training schedule for the next month when Ellen received a call from the small airbase.

"Admiral, one of our patrol drones discovered an Abyssal fleet near Nikolski. Unfortunately, it was shot down and so is unable to track them. We're launching two more drones to try to find and track their position, and confirm their composition."

"Acknowledged." Ellen put the phone back into the receiver. Houston looked at her curiously. "Sighting of an Abyssal fleet near Nikolski. We're going to be launching a sortie to find and engage them." Houston nodded. Ellen walked over to the intercom.

"Unalaska Naval Base, this is Admiral Rhodes. An enemy fleet has been sighted to the west. Prepare to launch a sortie, standard composition." The base usually only launched a portion of its shipgirls, since it did not have the powerful airfields or land-based artillery that larger bases like Anchorage or the new 'Pearl' Harbor did, and was therefore more vulnerable to enemy attack. The 'garrison force' was rotated regularly, so that all ships were able to gain experience in battle. For this month, the garrison force consisted of CA Houston, since she was the secretary ship, CVL Princeton, CL Cincinnati and the Clemson sisters. The sortie would be led by BB Pennsylvania, and consist of CVL Belleau, CA Astoria, CL Boise, CL Memphis, DD O'Brien, DD Mahan, and the Fletcher sisters.

XXX

The Admiral stayed on the base, and the Porter was not used to transport the shipgirls. The target area was only about 7 hours away at Penn's speed. The Porter was usually used for targets about 8-12 hours or more away from the base.

Boise sailed to the left of Pennsylvania. She could see the Fletcher sister Boyd further out, screening the fleet for submarines with her sonar. Belleau called out, "Scout planes have detected the enemy fleet, 81.5 miles at 34 degrees!"

Pennsylvania gave orders: "Fleet change course to 30 degrees. Make for interception."

Belleau followed up: "Enemy fleet composition confirmed as one heavy cruiser, two light carriers, two light cruisers and a destroyer."

"Fleet, reform and prepare for anti-aircraft defense. Belleau Wood, launch CAP (Close Air Patrol)." Boise sailed inward, and fell back slightly, moving closer to the light carrier to protect her.

"Rodger. I'll follow it up with a dive bomber attack."

XXX

After about half an hour, Penn's air radar detected incoming aircraft. "Fleet, incoming aircraft detected. Prepare for anti-aircraft defense." Belleau's fighter cover was the first to engage the aircraft. The two aircraft groups began the engagement, but about one to two dozen bombers made it through the air patrol. The battleship was the first to begin firing, followed shortly after by the cruisers and destroyers. Pennsylvania's secondaries were powerful, sporting a large array of 5 and 3 inch anti-aircraft cannons in addition to machine guns. Boise did her best to direct her anti-aircraft fire wherever the battleship was too busy to fire at. Belleau was dodging as much as she could, the obvious primary target of the enemy aircraft. Boise had her own 5 inch anti-aircraft cannons, and along with the Astoria, the three of them had the most capable anti-aircraft defense.

After several minutes of intense anti-aircraft fire, the enemy was repulsed. They managed to land two bomb hits on Pennsylvania, and one on Astoria, but both ships were weathering the damage well. Both ships had participated in many battles, and were experienced with taking damage. What was important was that Belleau was undamaged, and free to continue air operations. And to Boise, it was also important that none of her little destroyers were hurt. Belleau was also able to report good news. "Message from attacking aircraft. Somewhat heavy aircraft losses, but confirmed takedown of one enemy light carrier, damage to second. Enemy fleet is attempting to withdraw. Pennsylvania, am I free to launch a second wave?"

"Launch a second wave."

Belleau smiled and began firing out more dive bombers.

XXX

Night had fallen when they returned to Unalaska. When they stepped back onto land, Belleau's professionalism finally released. "Fuck yeah! I was awesome today!"

"You did well today," Pennsylvania said warmly, "You managed to finish off the second light carrier, and sink the light cruiser but you also took fairly significant aircraft casualties."

"You're the one who cleared the second attack!"

"Yes. We have a healthy stock of resources now, but in the future I expect you to be more conservative with your planes."

Belleau pouted, but relented to the battleship. Pennsylvania knew her stuff.

While the Admiral went with Princeton to talk to Belleau, Boise went over to her little destroyers. "None of you got hurt, right?" The cruiser gave them a warm smile.

Mahan seemed particularly excited. "You were so _cool_ , Boise! You were going 'boom boom boom', and blew them apart with your cannons!"

Boise pulled the little destroyer into a hug. "I couldn't allow any of them to hit one of you."

O'Brien came up, seemingly hoping to get in on the hugging. "A couple of them went for me, but oi dodged them an' shot a bunch of them down!"

"Come here babe."

The rest of the destroyers came up too and made a group hug.

The Admiral could only look on in confusion. Was this how destroyers were sparkled?

4


	6. Chapter 6: Back Home

Chapter 6: Back Home

Boise was a little worried about her destroyers. This sortie was the first time two light aircraft carriers were spotted in the Aleutian Islands. The base only had two of its own, and had no standard aircraft carriers. If this were to keep up, it would be important for her destroyers to be able to dodge bombs and air-launched torpedoes. Fortunately for her, the Admiral also understood the heightened airpower of the enemy and encouraged the shipgirls to practice anti-aircraft defense and maneuvering. She decided to work with the carriers on an anti-aircraft competition.

As the last of the destroyers arrived at the docks, Boise announced the rules. "The goal of this exercise is to shoot down as many planes as you can, while taking the least 'damage'. Princeton and Belleau will be launching practice planes at you. They won't do any serious damage, but will hurt if they hit you." Some of the destroyers, especially Mahan, seemed slightly intimidated by this. "The winner of this exercise will receive four pounds of chocolate ice-cream." The treat was a part of Boise's private stash, saved for use as a treat for the destroyers. All of the destroyers loved candy and ice-cream. Boise could clearly see the reward begin to motivate the girls. "The carriers will fire four waves of aircraft at you, so be careful to pace yourself. Endurance is more important than pure strength. Both here and out in the Pacific, if you push yourself too hard, you'll quickly fail."

Belleau couldn't help from opening her mouth. "You guys saw me earlier! I'm a mean, lean, carrier machine!" Boise rolled her eyes. Belleau was often immature. She had much to learn from her sister.

"I wanna be first!" Kane was practically jumping for the opportunity to win delicious ice-cream.

"Alright, you can be first." Boise motioned for the destroyer to come up. She gave her a rub on the head before returning to shore.

Princeton took her flight deck, aimed it at the little destroyer, and began the first round of practice planes. The slow slug immediately turned into a wing of practice fighters. The fighters pulled up, gaining altitude. Kane, since she was a Clemson class destroyer, had little in the way of anti-aircraft armament. Her best strategy was to dodge them, and use her 3 in cannon to suppress the fighters. This was, indeed, her plan. Her sisters back ashore cheered her on, which helped her from wincing from the strafes. After what seemed a long fight, but was actually about a minute, the fighters withdrew and Belleau launched bombers. These would be somewhat easier to dodge, and were followed by another bomber wave from Princeton. For the final wave, torpedo bombers were launched from both carriers.

"These practice torpedo bombers are almost as safe and harmless as live torpedo bombers."

Princeton nudged her sister with her elbow to shut her up. "Don't be rude to the hardworking aircraft fairies."

By this point, Kane was tired. Her little anti-aircraft cannon was burning hot, and the little stings from the fighters and bombers were painful and frustrating. She tried to head into the torpedoes, but slipped and two practice torpedoes hit her. She fell into the shallow water. The torpedo bombers were called off, and Princeton went over to help her up.

Boise called out from the shore, "You did really well, girl!" Kane gave the cruiser a tired smile. Boise turned around. "Who wants to be next?"

XXX

Meanwhile, Houston and Ellen were walking around the town. Houston had told Ellen that the previous Admiral had allowed the shipgirls to wander around town, provided there were only a few, that they notified the commander, and that they kept a cell phone on them. The town was practically all military personnel and their families, so it seemed like a good way to keep up morale, especially in winter. Ellen was instantly curious about where they liked to go, and was still unfamiliar with most of the town, so she asked the cruiser to show her where she and the other ships usually went. Now they were walking around Main Street, the only paved road, on the way to the town's little library.

What sort of books do they look at? Do they read books about World War 2 and their history? The Academy had tons of courses focused on shipgirls, but few discussed their casual interests or their personal goals. Ships on the front lines in Hawaii, Bermuda, or the Lesser Antilles didn't really get the opportunity to have their own down-time like those up here in Alaska. What do they think about their history, the men who served aboard them, or the ships they fought in World War 2? The US had not yet managed to reestablish any contact with the Old World. The submarine scouting of Kamchatka was the furthest they had been able to get. Perhaps the Old World was already lost to the Abyssals, and the Americas were the last bastion of humanity on Earth? Unfortunately, the US was not in any good position to attempt another run through the Bering Strait, especially with the recent rise in highly aggressive Abyssal activity against the Caribbean and Hawaii. And now with command fearful of Abyssal activity on their bases in Kamchatka…

While Ellen was thinking, they arrived at the small library. From the outside it looked small and cramped, but from the inside it had a warm and cozy atmosphere. Cheesy reading posters were taped onto open walls, and the bookshelves were full of books. The Librarian looked up from her phone to greet the new visitors with vigor. "Oh, you're the new base commander, aren't you?" The small lady climbed over the counter right up to Ellen.

"Oh, hi." Ellen was caught a little off guard by the librarian's sudden vigor.

"Are you looking for a book, or just to relax?"

Ellen saw movement around some shelves, and saw Memphis come into view. She just remembered Houston offhandedly saying that she cleared the light cruiser to head into town.

"Oh, were you looking for that little lady?"

"No, Houston was just showing me around to the parts of town I haven't been to yet."

"Aw! How lovely of you, Houston." The heavy cruiser subtly blushed. "Anyway, Admiral, if you need a book, or a calm place to relax, the Unalaska library is here for you."

While the librarian started to return to the counter, Ellen turned to Houston. "What sorts of books do you read here?"

"I read books on US history."

Without turning around, the librarian called out, "Hou-ston! I know what you read."

Houston blushed, and said, much more quietly than usual, "D-Don't rat me out May!"

May turned around with a smile and looked at Ellen. "She's really into murder mysteries. Especially the one with a handsome boy on the cov-"

The cruiser used her superhuman strength to open the door and pull her superior officer out of the library. Ellen stumbled and fell onto her butt on the wooden patio.

"I'm sorry Admiral. I didn't mean to pull you like that." The librarian's head appeared in the window.

"It's alright. I'll just come back later to gossip with the librarian." May gave Ellen a devious smile from behind Houston.

The cruiser, defeated, offered her hand to help the Admiral back up.

"Come on, let's go to the next place." She smiled at Houston, victorious.

5


	7. Chapter 7: An Unwelcome Change

Chapter 7: An Unwelcome Change

Over the past few months Houston and Princeton had become close friends. The two ships tried to be mature role models for the other girls, but without others around they felt comfortable being more open with each other.

"I grabbed a superior officer and fucking _pushed_ her off of her feet! I'm lucky to not be in trouble right now."

Princeton took another sip of her wine glass. "Look. She seemed to brush it off, right?"

"Yeah."

"You're fine. If something happens, it happens, but I really doubt she'll be mad at you about it."

"You're probably right, but I can't help but freak out for a minute."

"I am right." Princeton smiled at the cruiser. "And were you actually looking at the book for the boy?"

Houston blushed. "No! It's just that I like the author and read everything she writes."

Princeton looked at her for a moment, then chuckled. "Alright. I believe you. By the way," the carrier paused for a moment, "do you still feel alright with the new Admiral?"

"Yes. I've got no problems with her."

"It's not really _her_ I mean. She just looks like…" the carrier's voice dropped in volume, "…like Northampton."

"You don't need to worry about me, Princeton. I should be the one worrying about you. With those two light carriers showing up, you must be worried about Belleau. I will talk to the Admiral about putting you both on the Sortie fleet. The base has the airfield, and with this last encounter, I am worried."

Princeton put down her cup. "I'd still be worried about a surprise attack on the base … but I'm not going to lie. I'm very concerned about the Abyssals bringing more carriers against us out there. You're right. We should talk with the Admiral."

XXX

At that moment, the Admiral was by the docks, observing anti-aircraft training. Boise's anti-aircraft competition had finished, and the Fletcher class destroyer Boyd won. Most of the destroyers followed her back to the dorms, hoping to get some bites of the ice-cream as well. Ellen looked back at Boise, sitting a little further back, with Kane sitting nearby and Mahan sleeping on her lap. Ellen looked back at the inlet. Penn and Belleau had just finished their anti-aircraft exercises and were coming back to shore. The carrier looked exhausted. The anti-aircraft exercises were endurance exercises for the carriers as well. Good. They would need it. She went over to meet Pennsylvania as the battleship returned to shore.

"Good work there, Penn."

"Thank you Admiral."

Ellen made sure to pull Penn over to the side, out of hearing range of the other girls. "I don't want to bring back uncomfortable memories, but I want you to tell me everything you know, from firsthand experience, about heavier Abyssal ships. Especially Abyssal fleet carriers."

Penn's eyes locked onto the Admiral. She could tell that danger was afoot.

XXX

"Rear Admiral Rhodes! I trust you're gotten acquainted with the base and your personnel by now?"

"Yes, sir. It's a well run and well staffed base."

"Well, I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the Canadians are sending the Tribal class destroyer Huron to bolster the defenses at your base. Unfortunately we have no available carriers to send your way. We're still short on carriers on both the Hawaii and the Lesser Antillies fronts, both of which are rapidly heating up. After the tragic loss at Midway, we can't even spare you any of our light carriers, as they are needed to fill gaps in our frontline fleet carriers." Ellen wasn't completely up to speed on the fateful outcome of the 4th Battle of Midway, but with even Enterprise returning to California for 'mental recovery', it had to be terrifying. The admiral paused for a moment. "Unfortunately, that's not the real bad news. Recent intelligence expeditions have uncovered a large Abyssal fleet beginning to set up a base of operations in Atka. Operatives have identified at least three battleships, three fleet carriers, four light carriers, six heavy cruisers, and a large number of lighter vessels. These are independent of the light carrier fleet you recently engaged. It appears that they are searching for something, and that something is probably your base."

Ellen felt crushed. Even together, her fleet was no match for a heavy Abyssal fleet like that. "Um, sir. I don't have the forces to take that fleet on."

"I am aware of that, but our forces are stretched thin. We're outnumbered everywhere. I don't expect you to be able to sink them in battle, especially if there are more ships we don't know about. Your mission will be to hold the line and harass the Abyssals' forces for a long as possible. Your primary objective will also be to keep your ships alive. If your base falls, then Alaska will need your ships to be able to keep them off of American soil. Alaska's resources are vital to the war effort, and we cannot afford to lose them in such dire times. Your base is on the front-line now, Admiral Rhodes. May God have mercy on you and your people."

Ellen returned the phone to its place. She was alone in the Admiral's office, and the atmosphere felt heavy. Pennsylvania had experience fighting heavy Abyssal fleets firsthand. She had to learn more about what she was up against.


	8. Chapter 8: Announcment

Chapter 8: Announcement

Pennsylvania and the Admiral sat in her office. Houston was still out enjoying personal time. Ellen continued asking questions. "How often were you engaging Abyssal fleets with guns, rather than with carrier forces?"

"Well, the situation might be different now. During the Counteroffensive for Hawaii, fleet carriers played a more minor role. We hadn't even constructed Enterprise for the first time, and had only very recently constructed Yorktown. The Abyssals, also, had few fleet carriers, and those that they had were fairly small and limited. Back then it wasn't really uncommon to have battleship and cruiser engagements. Usually, decisive battles took place at night, since our detection ranges were shorter and we ended up fighting more often in close range battles. We were both hesitant to close beyond long to medium-long range engagements, and due to a lack of advanced carriers, it was rare for us to inflict or receive serious damage. Of course, there were exceptions. During the Battle of Honolulu, we wanted to get in close and force decisive battles."

"I already know the strategies used in those offensive. What I specifically want to learn more about is any personal insights you have about Abyssal behavior."

Penn paused for a while to think. Minutes seemed to pass before she spoke up again. "The Abyssals in some sense seem … robotic. Abyssal movements are practically simultaneous, and their quick responses suggest a consistent lack of hesitation when receiving new orders. They seem to have a rigid and uncreative thought process. When our forces employ new or unconventional tactics we are able to inflict decisive damaged upon them. Radical tactical and strategic innovation, as was the case in Admiral Murray's operations in the Caribbean, and Admiral Johnson's liberation of Hawaii were able to throw the Abyssals into a temporary disarray. Eventually there were able to adapt to it, and we returned to a stalemate, but I believe that utilizing human experimentality and unpredictability is the best way to fight the more rigid mindset of the Abyssals at the command level."

Ellen was impressed. Perhaps this sort of insight was the reason that the previous admiral made Penn his secretary ship.

"Unfortunately," the battleship continued, "I don't have many ideas on what to do here. We're heavily outnumbered, and don't have a lot of conventional forces to back us up."

Ellen's conversation with Pennsylvania continued a while longer, but it was the battleship's insight into the value of unpredictability that latched into Ellen's mind. An idea began to form.

XXX

The Canadian military worked extensively with the US. The two militaries were already heavily intertwined before the Abyssals arrived, so it was natural that they remained so during this war for survival. Still, shipgirls were a nation's prized assets. Huron arrived at the Unalaska naval base with a pair of Canadian officers and a small staff of Canadian support personnel. This was the first time Huron had been the only Canadian shipgirl at a base, so she feared that the people coming with her would only isolate her from the American shipgirls. She looked down at the base's harbor. It seemed somewhat bare, but it had a natural beauty. She could see two Canadians join some American marines to carry the Canadian flag to the flagpoles.

It turned out that she needn't have worried so much. Being a Tribal class destroyer carried a weight of prestige. The American destroyers, especially the smaller ones, were very excited to meet her!

"You're the Canadian destroyer, right?" A somewhat smaller destroyer shook her hand. "I'm Kane. Clemson class."

"It's nice to meet you, Kane." Huron felt a little awkward, due to one of her assigned Canadian officers standing right next to her. Kane didn't seem to mind much.

"You were on the Atlantic front, right?"

"Yeah. I was based in Halifax for a while, then transferred to Norfolk, before it was hit. After a brief time in New York I ended up back in Halifax until being sent here."

The destroyer's eyes lit up when she referenced Halifax.

"Halifax! Wow! Was it as cool as I've heard?"

"Huh?"

"It's like a big fortress-complex, right? Full of bunkers ready to blow the shit out of anything straying close to land!"

"You're not too far off. Although I prefer what it looked like before the war, back when it was full of elegant glass skyscrapers. I would love to have visited it back then."

The remark seemed to put the brakes on Kane. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your excitement."

"No, it's alright. I didn't mean to be rude."

"Kane!" Gilmer's voice interrupted her. "We don't want to be late for the Admiral's announcement!"

XXX

Ellen watched Huron take a seat in the back. The Clemson sisters seemed to have struck up pleasant conversation with her. The girls seemed excited. She could just hear some of the ships hopeful for new food, better furnishings for their dorms, or civilians coming to open up commercial stores. Ellen heart was heavy, knowing that those hopes were soon to be dashed. Delivering bad news was the worst.

"Quiet please, ladies." Ellen decided to start with introducing Huron, to delay the inevitable. "Please welcome the newest destroyer to arrive at the Unalaska naval base." The ships began to clap for her, and Ellen stepped back so that the Canadian lieutenant could follow up.

"Canada and America have long been deeply close nations. This tragic war against the Abyssals has only strengthened our bond." He looked over to the flag poles, where the marines began to hoist the maple leaf. The lieutenant saluted his country's flag, then returned his view to the ships in front of him. "America's army protected Canada in the Hudson Bay Campaign, and our navy continues to protect the American coasts. We are two sisters back to back against the Abyssal hordes, and we shall always protect each other!"

The ships gave a brief applause, and Ellen returned to face them. She took a deep breath. She hoped that they were ready. "The construction of shipgirls changed the course of the war." The girls would probably be a bit confused by this beginning, but Ellen had to be sure they were conscientious of the state of the war. "We went from desperately repelling the Abyssals from our coasts to a full counteroffensive. The construction of shipgirls was instrumental in our repulsion of the Abyssals and has saved countless lives." The girls were trying to understand where Ellen was going. "I am afraid that, as some of you may know, the tide is beginning to change again. Abyssal forces have begun new offensives against Hawaii and the Caribbean. Bermuda has fallen, and the army is mobilizing coastal defenses against the Atlantic. Newfoundland and Labrador are being evacuated again, and both Nova Scotia and Quebec are fortifying against an Abyssal siege."

"I am afraid that Alaska will soon face an Abyssal offensive as well."


	9. Chapter 9: Settling In

Chapter 9: Settling In

Boyd was surprised that she was selected to be a representative of the destroyers. She wasn't all that experienced, and she didn't think of herself as a particularly strategic person. Perhaps it was just because she was a powerful destroyer, but O'Brien was more powerful. Following behind her was Huron. The poor girl just got here and was already being brought into a strategy meeting. Boyd remembered being deployed from the construction complexes to Seattle. She got separated from a lot of her sister ships, and she felt pretty overwhelmed, but in time she began to appreciate the many different people there. This wasn't Huron's first deployment, and Boyd was sure that she would feel comfortable fairly soon. She would have undoubtedly already worked with the US navy ever since she left her construction, so Boyd doubted that that would be a barrier for long.

The two destroyers sat down in front of the holo-table. It was rare to see technology like this, since commercial electronic products were under very heavy regulation, and often confiscated due to their precious rare metals. They were super-cool though!

The Admiral began by displaying a map of the Aleutian Islands. Labels appeared over Unalaska and the new Abyssal base. "The enemy has begun establishing a base at Atka. Unfortunately, it is guarded by a fleet too powerful for us to engage." An intimidatingly long list of capital ships appeared by the base. "And there are even more ships patrolling around this new base." More dots began to appear all around Atka. "Fortunately, we still have authorization to use some of our existing drone stock to monitor Abyssal fleet movements. We only have a limited window of time that they can be used. We cannot risk losing too many, since our resupply of them has been shut down since the Caribbean got hit, and is very unlikely to restart anytime soon. We will have to make use of our drones while we can. We will have to use the Porter for maneuverability, and we'll likely be out on sorties a lot."

The Admiral's plan was actually fairly simple. She was a good strategist, though no genius. Huston, Astoria, and Pennsylvania convinced her to make several minor edits, but her core ideas were sound. Unalaska did not have the power to survive in a full engagement, so they would be forced to harass and slow down the Abyssal forces for as long as they could. The base would gradually be evacuated to a skeleton staff, and ships would sortie from the Porter to engage Abyssal patrols. The Porter would leave with the first sortie tomorrow.

"We will evacuate those civilians who came back, but for now it doesn't look like the Abyssals intend to attack Unalaska directly. They've spread a lot of patrols out, instead of concentrating their firepower."

"They should have an idea of where are base is, right? We already abandoned Unalaska once," Princeton said.

"Yes. I think that, instead of trying to find and destroy our base, or fight our fleet, they're looking for something. It's possible that they are submarine hunting, and, after all, we have used submarine intelligence extensively here. Still, they should know that we have a fleet presence here when we attacked that light carrier fleet."

Pennsylvania said, "The Abyssals can sometimes be reckless, but this sort of strategic vulnerability is not something I've seen them do before. It's also fairly rare for them to make a strategic blunder, so I think it's more likely that there's information that we're missing."

"But we still can't just sit around and wait because they're being suspicious. With the balance of force here, or lack thereof, we don't have the privilege of waiting for more information."

XXX

After the strategy meeting was finished, Huron felt exhausted. She was still suffering from jet lag. She decided to go and check out her new dorm. Boise offered to accompany her there. "The other girls will be very interested in what happened, and it looks like you're pretty tired." It was a large building, but seemed robust. From the outside it looked dull, but the inside was filled with energetic ships.

"When are we gonna blow the Abyssals out of the water?!"

"Are we going to Sortie tonight?"

"Is the base going to get dangerous?"

Boise practically pushed her way through some of the younger destroyers. Gently, of course. Huron was too tired to really pay much attention to the questions or Boise's answers. They eventually reached her new room, and Boise gave her a key. Huron didn't really look around the room, she just went straight to the bed. Luckily it was already made (the Clemson sisters later admitted to preparing it for her, in anticipation of jet-lag induced exhaustion). Not even the only partially muffled voices from outside the door prevented her from falling soundly asleep.

XXX

Sorties began the next day. The Admiral called through the speakers: "Today's sortie will include Princeton, Astoria, Boise, O'Brien, Fox, Bache, and Shields. Please report to the Porter to begin preparations to depart. Belleau Wood and Pennsylvania, also report to the Porter as backup." Huron would be staying on the base, so she hoped that she could get to know the other destroyers better.

First, she went to the Cafeteria for breakfast. Mahan and Boyd were in a table off to the side. Huron decided to seize the initiative and sit with them.

"I hope we didn't tire you out too much at the strategy meeting. I noticed you were getting tired near the end." Boyd seemed like a good friend. Hopefully Huron could spend some more time with her.

"Oh, it's fine. I was just a little jet-lagged."

"Well, I'd love to show you around the base. The Admiral says that you are a good escort. Princeton also said she would feel safe with you around."

"Thank you, although I'm not experienced with fleet escort. I usually escorted convoys on the Atlantic coast, or patrolled with a destroyer flotilla."

"Well, your powerful guns serve well at sinking lighter ships, like Abyssal destroyers and torpedo boats, and against aircraft, since they're dual purpose, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm still not as powerful as your Sumner class."

"At least you're sober. Right, Mahan?"

"Hey! I like O'Brien. She's a really friendly drunk."

"What! I didn't think the US would allow alcohol for destroyers." Wasn't the US known for stringent alcohol laws? Did they even apply to shipgirls?

"O'Brien wouldn't allow the Navy to stop her. She was born with alcohol in her hand, like you were born with 'sorry' on your lips."

Huron couldn't help but chuckle. She could play the teasing game too. "And you were born with a Bigmac in your belly."

Mahan seemed to be opening up now. "Heh. Anyway, I've heard that Boise's organizing another destroyer practice session sometime this afternoon. I hope she has some more goodies."

"Did she have one before I got here? What did she give out?"

Boyd smiled. "I won a whole bunch of ice cream! I even have some leftovers that I can share with you, though most of it was demolished by hungry destroyers. I'm lucky that I managed to rush a bunch of it to my room and kept them out."

"I would love to eat some nice chocolate!"

"Luckily for you, most of the other girls prefer vanilla, so it's mostly chocolate left." Boyd winked at her. "Whoever wins Boyd's new session, come to my room and we'll share some ice cream and maybe watch a scary movie. It'll be nice to have some fun time before things get heated up."

"Can I come!" Mahan was getting excited.

"Sure, little Mahi-Mahi"


	10. Chapter 10: Return

Chapter 10: Return

Huron came to the docks to see the fleet return. For a shipgirl, it was a special moment. Usually it was a happy reunion, where everyone came together and were happy to see each other. And of course, it was also sometimes a tragic event. Huron still remembered the first time she experienced a tragic return. It was back in Halifax, as a destroyer flotilla came back one short. Borie was sunk by an Abyssal cruiser ambush, and Huron would never forget seeing Borie's sister Bulmer breakdown on the dock. Ever since then, she viewed the return with reverence. Fortunately, this return was happy.

Boyd jumped right into a hug with her sisters, Houston hugged Astoria, and several destroyers crowded Boise. Mahan went past Huron towards Princeton. "Princeton, are you alright?" Huron noticed some scratch marks on the carrier's flightdeck.

"Oh, it's alright. An abyssal fighter strafed me. That's all. It's only superficial damage." The destroyer hugged her anyway. "Aww, little Mahi." She rubbed the destroyer's head and Mahan let go.

"How many ships did you blow up?"

"I think I got two destroyers. Belleau got a light cruiser. But I think Pennsylvania and Boise did really well. They both got three ships."

"You're all so cool!"

Boise wandered over, apparently hearing her name. "I hope I can inspire some courage in you, little Mahi."

"Boise! You're sleeve is charred!"

"It's just from firing my cannons so much."

Huron entered the conversation. "You've got a 10 rounds per minute fire rate, right? That's a lot of power."

"That's sort of an ideal rate. I think I managed about 4-6 today. Plus, I've got no torpedoes, so I've got to make up for that with firepower. Anyway, I'm going to go take a nap in bed for a while, but later today I hope you're ready for some anti-submarine exercises."

One of the Clemson sisters came up to Huron. "Hey, Houston told me to tell you that you've got a call in the Admin building. She said it was Haida."

XXX

"Hey sis, I heard you're being hit even up there."

"Yeah. I haven't been sortied yet, but I've started to get to know some of the other destroyers."

"That's nice. How are they?"

"Well, I've been talking to Boyd, she's one of the Fletcher sisters, and she's a nice lady."

"Good, good. I've been talking more with Atlanta recently. She's still adjusting, but I'm helping her break out of her shell."

"Aww. That's nice of you."

"Yeah. Anyway, it does look like we're in for a major operation soon. Sydney got bombarded by a major Abyssal raid. We were able to push them back, but the enemy is getting more daring. There are refugees everywhere here, and the loss of Sydney has made an opening for the Abyssals to reach the St. Lawrence River. Command's decided that we need to make a counterattack on Miquelon before the Abyssals reinforce or solidify their position."

"Oh, fuck. It's getting bad up there, isn't it?"

"The Americans transferred Ranger up here a week ago. Considering all of the fighting in the Caribbean, if they're transferring carriers _out_ of there to here, then yeah. But that also means that there are going to be stronger ships here, so don't worry too much."

"It's hard not to worry in times like these."

"Don't worry so much about me. I'm a tough ship, and there's a lot of tough ships here. Ranger is a really skilled veteran, Maryland is a really tough little bastard, and we've even got the North Carolina. You've only got the Pennsylvania and two light carriers. You're the one I'm more worried about."

"Things are still pretty calm here. The Abyssals are still holding back. If we have to, we will retreat to Anchorage."

"It's nice to hear that there's at least some calm in this world. Let's hope it stays that way. All we have to do is wait for the heavy hitters like Iowa and Essex to start being constructed. Once they start coming out of the docks, the tide will turn."

XXX

After her call with Haida, Huron felt better. Halifax was a veritable fortress, having withstood many raids and even a full-scale invasion during a similarly dire time about two years ago. It was one of the most secure postings in the known world, and even with how the war is going, it's not about to fall anytime soon.

It was 17:00. Time for dinner. Hopefully she could talk some more with the other shipgirls. On the way she ran into the Admiral.

"Oh, Huron. How were you in my absence?"

"I've caught up on sleep and gotten to know some of the other shipgirls."

"Nice. Who've you been talking to?"

"I've gotten to know Boyd. She's a nice and caring destroyer. I've also talked with Mahan and Boise."

"Hmm. Have you talked with any of the bigger ships? It's important to get to know them too, you know."

"Well, they've been out on sortie today, so I haven't had the opportunity. Maybe I can speak with them more at dinner."

"Right."

XXX

It turns out, the heavier ships were more than happy to accommodate her. Since many of the ships had come back from a sortie, dining time was longer, and some of the shipgirls wanted to hear one of Huron's stories.

"So I was constructed in the Canadian shipgirl complex on Lake Onterio. It's not really far away from the American complex, just across the lake. Initially, I was very scared. I could hear the reports of the fighting and dying going on the front lines, and knew that I would end up on one someday. I got scared, and panicked, and ended up running away from the base."

"I ended up walking through the Canadian countryside first. It was very pretty, with all of the Victory Farms everywhere. But I started to get hungry, and timidly walked up to one farm house. An older man and woman opened the door. Maybe it was because I looked like a child, but they were nice and fed me. They tried to contact the police looking for my parents, but I told them that I was a war orphan to keep from being caught. I specifically remember one of my conversations with them over the four days or so I was with them."

'Wow! This cola tastes good! Thank you!'

'Oh, don't worry darling. You're a lot like are little Laurie'

'Who's that?'

'She was our eldest daughter. She was a sweet little girl, and grew up to be a very strong woman.'

'Eh? I'd like to meet her!'

The woman looked at her hands. I noticed how rough were.

'I'm afraid that she's gone now. She was on the Gerald R. Ford. She always looked up to the heroes in comic books.'

I felt so bad making them dredge up their memories of their daughter. I felt like curling up into a ball.

'After that, her little brother Johnny joined the Engineers to try to help people recover from this devastation, and our youngest became a doctor. We're too old now to help many people, but we try to do what we can by growing food here.'

It was because of that old couple that I went back to the base.


	11. Chapter 11: Down South

Chapter 11: Down South

Pennyslvania told her story next.

This took place a while back, during the early days of the war. Tennessee and I were sent down to Salvador, Brazil. SACom (South American Command) was planning to try and break through the Abyssal Mid-Atlantic fleet and reach Africa. If we could secure a passage from Brazil to Africa, than we could hopefully see some signs if the old world was still alive. While the African nations didn't have an extensive shipgirl pool from which to defend themselves, they would hopefully still be surviving in the interior of the continent. Command was also uncertain what the Abyssals might do if they overran large sections of the continent.

We arrived early. SACom wanted to make sure that the logistics were set up, so we had about a day to wait. We met the Minas Geraes first, the Brazilian flagship.

"You're the American battleships, right?"

"Yeah. I'm Pennsylvania, and this is Tennessee."

"Welcome to Brazil, friends! I know you won't be here for too long, but I hope you get a chance to enjoy our culture and hospitality. Speaking of, can I help you with your stuff?"

Tennie smiled. "Oh don't you mind this honey. It's just a small amount of clothing and my guitar."

"Oh please. You've come all the way from America. I'm sure you're tired from the trip. Let me carry it for you."

Oh no. It's a hospitality standoff. I turned to Tennie. "Please just let her carry it."

"Oh all right. If y'all insist."

XXX

After settling in, we decided to go out for a bit. It was nice out, warm with a cooling breeze. Tennie wanted to play some music and I wanted to read a book. It truly was lovely. We sat on a little bench, Tennie with her oak guitar, and myself with my book. Tennie began strumming her guitar while she looked at the book in my lap.

"It's _Rabbit at Rest_ , by John Updike. It's a good, albeit old book. It's the last one in a four part series. It's good; it has a sort of blunt charm to it."

"Oh, nice. I've been trying to read _The Widow of the South_ , but I haven't found the time."

"I know all about that. It's taken a lot of effort for me to be able to find the time to read a longer stuff like the Rabbit series."

"And when I do have time I prefer to play music, preferably outside on a nice day. Like today, just look at that evening sun. It's lovely."

A girl's voice came from behind the bench we were sitting in, "The sky is a sublime hue of orange and blue." We turned around and looked at her. She wore a long white and blue dress, and I could see a small book in her hands. "I assume that you two are the American battleships?"

"Yeah. I'm Pennsylvania, and this is Tennessee."

"As you may tell, I'm Rivadavia, the Argentine flagship." She walked over and sat on the bench with us. "I'm happy to get the opportunity to meet American shipgirls."

"I hope y'all aren't under too much pressure from the Abyssals."

"No, no. It's just, I was built in the US, or the old part of me was, and I would love to visit Massachusetts someday."

"Maybe Massachusetts will visit you first."

The girl seemed a bit confused.

"I mean, Massachusetts should be constructed before the year is out, so maybe she'll see you first."

Riva laughed. "That would be fun too."

XXX

Rivadavia was a lovely girl, and I enjoyed talking with her, but we came down to Brazil with a job to do, and our little break could only last so long.

The scientists back home had just developed the Utzuki-Quinlan process of adapting an ignition mechanism to allow conventional warheads to carry anti-Abyssal compound that was a lot more effective than older conventional warheads. Of course, it was still inefficient as hell, only igniting about 0.4% of the anti-Abyssal compound, but it would still be way more effective than old conventional warheads. The brass was very eager to test its effectiveness, so we were accompanied by a sizable conventional fleet. I think it was 3 destroyers and a guided missile submarine.

We departed with myself, Tennessee, Rivadavia, and Mines Geraes, along with a pair of light cruisers and like 6 destroyers, of mixed nationality. The conventional destroyers hung back, since they were still just as vulnerable as always.

Drones from the conventional destroyers discovered the main Abyssal fleet in the area first. We used them for accurate target data, so we got some good long range shots off. Us battleships rotated in pairs: me with Riva and Tennie with Minas. We did the initial fighting, but after a few minutes, the conventional ships started launching anti-Abyssal missiles. I'll be honest. I was pretty disappointed. Even the Abyssal destroyers took like eight big cruise missiles before they finally sank. The pair of Abyssal battleships took them with only minor damage, but even they had to stop fighting us to concentrate on the missiles, as they started to get overwhelmed. It gave us the opportunity for our destroyers to launch a spread of torpedoes that sunk them.

"Be advised fleet, this is Overwatch. Black Eyes has finished mid-air refueling, and is beginning operation. It has reached cruising speed of Mach 3.2"

"Holy shit," one of the Brazilian destroyers exclaimed, "What can even go that fast?"

Tennessee shouted gleefully, "SR-71 Blackbird! Fastest Sonofabitch in the air!"

"Fleet, this is Overwatch. Maintain Mid-Atlantic corridor to allow Black Eyes to make return."

The destroyer looked back at me. "But if it's so fast, than couldn't it just fly right past the Abyssals?"

"Well, umm…" I didn't really know how to answer. I still don't know why the air force doesn't just send a blackbird from Halifax to Paris. They have the range to do it, at 85 thousand feet and Mach fucking 3.2. It's all classified top secret bullshit. Oh well, let's get back to the story.

After about 40 minutes, Abyssal reinforcements from nearby theaters had begun to arrive on-scene. Riva and I went south, while Tennie and Maras went north. I had just pumped a full broadside into an Abyssal light cruiser when I heard chilling incoming reports.

"Overwatch, this is USS Ross. We've got another inbound Abyssal fleet from the south. It's … it's pretty big. Four battleships, and … and it appears to be an Abyssal aircraft carrier."

"Roger that, Ross." I could also faintly hear 'Jesus. An Abyssal aircraft carrier?'

"Black Eye, this is Overwatch. What is your ETA to Mid-Atlantic corridor now?"

"Hold on … We're still about 30 minutes away."

"USS Ross, this is Overwatch. How far out is this Abyssal fleet?"

"Unfortunately, we've lost a lot of drones, so we've only managed to catch it about 15 minutes out."

After brief moment of murmuring, General Vaugrenard came over the comms. "Fleet, this is Overwatch. Begin retreat. I repeat, begin retreat back to safe, Brazilian waters."

"Black Eye, this is Overwatch. I'm afraid luck is not on our side. We cannot keep the Atlantic clear for you. Recommend you attempt to make landing in Nigeria."

The poor radioman's voice betrayed a sense of fear. "Yes sir. Black Eyes, turning towards Nigeria."

XXX

Unfortunately, neither I nor Tennessee were ever told what, if any, intel we got out of Black Eyes. The official navy statement is that it never reached the coast, but I've done the math. It definitely made it to Africa.


	12. Chapter 12: Encounter

Chapter 12: Encounter

Huron was looking forward to the anti-submarine exercise. She herself was well trained, probably more so than any of the other destroyers due to her time in Halifax, but she wanted to see more of Boise. The other destroyers respected the cruiser greatly, and it's easy to see why. Boise was a symbol of humanity during a hard-fought war. The radio and government broadcasts were full of heroic, iron-willed shipgirls. Enterprise was the poster-child for this: Fighting no matter what to protect people. With Shipgirls being the only truly effective way to fight the Abyssals, and with a populous terrified of a very real existential threat, Shipgirls found themselves under a heavy pressure to act tough and heroic. But Boise showed them compassion and kindness, qualities that made them feel more human. Huron felt this too, and wanted to connect with Boise.

They set off. The exercises would take place a little way out of the Unalaska bay. Huron maneuvered closer to Boise to ask a question.

"Hey, Boise. You've been in the war for a while, right?"

"Oh, yes. I'm not as old as, say, Pennsylvania, and a little bit younger than Houston, but I've been serving for a while now."

"Some of the older ships seem to be aloof and disillusioned. But you're still so caring and optimistic."

"It's always best to think positively. Even though we don't have a lot of control over the state of the world out there, we can control how we respond to it. I choose to be optimistic because I know we will be able to pull through to a better time. Humanity has gone through many dark ages. Even though this age seems terrible and dangerous, we've survived more terrible and more dangerous times."

"You may not have been told much about this, but the Abyssals are not the first time humanity has been under a pressing, existential theat. This is not the first time that Americans, and Canadians too, have feared world-wide destruction and Armageddon. During the cold war the US and Soviets were prepared to burn this planet down through nuclear holocaust. US nuclear weapons were facing off the Soviets in Turkey, while Soviet missiles were prepared to rain death from Cuba. The world came close to death, by our own hands no less, but we survived. Those missiles never launched. Instead we entered a golden age of incredible prosperity."

"Sure, things may seem to be dim, but we're far from facing defeat. We've faced a limited Abyssal land invasion from the Hudson Bay before, and we beat them back into the sea. If we have to, we can retreat into the great lakes and the interior. But I don't think that's going to happen. I think we're about to see the light at the end of the tunnel. You're new, but I've been out fighting for a while. The Abyssals aren't rolling out new classes as much as they used to, and I think their current aggression is due more to desperation on their part than strength. We're facing the full brunt of their wrath right now, but once Essex and Iowa slip into the waters of the Great Lakes, we will be the hunters, and they the prey."

XXX

The evening sun shone softly into Ellen's office. She sipped some root-beer as she played on her phone. It was some sort of Bejeweled clone. Whatever. She could match three in her sleep, but it helped her pass the time when there was nothing else to do. Suddenly, the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Admiral. I'm afraid we have bad news. We've detected a medium-size Abyssal fleet racing towards the base."

"What's the composition!?"

"We don't know. We detected them through isotope emission. We've diverted a drone."

"Do you think the Abyssal force is light enough for Boise and her destroyers to face off against?"

"It's hard to tell, but it doesn't seem like a large fleet action. I'm not detecting the emissions characterized by battleships or aircraft carriers. But take note, we can't intercept them before dusk, so aircraft carriers won't really be usable."

XXX

Meanwhile, Houston was having a nightmare. She was walking through a snowy Unalaska, a badly injured Australian shipgirl on her back. She heard fierce fighting coming from the base, but her vision was shrouded by heavy snowfall. She struggled to walk while carrying the Australian. The snow began to lighten. Feeling emboldened, she shifted the Australian back onto her back and sped up. Then the frantic sounds of battle silenced. Houston began to feel something was wrong. The snowfall finally blew away, revealing the base.

It was thoroughly battered. Collapsed buildings littered the town, huge shell holes filled the streets. A tattered American and Canadian flag flew over the base. She saw a group of marines nearby, resting against the walls of a collapsed old barn. She hurried there, and as she neared it, she saw that all but one were dead.

"Marine! What has happened here? Are there other survivors?"

He looked up with a sad expression. "You might want to look at the lass on your shoulder."

All of a sudden, Houston was aware of how cold the girl had become. She laid her out on the ground. Unfortunately, she was already dead. She had bled out from the Abyssal torpedo strikes. This made Houston even more conscious of her own torpedo wounds. She looked up and saw that the marines had transformed. They were now the Admiral, Ellen, along with Pennsylvania, Boise, Astoria, and Princeton. The injured Ellen spoke: "They're unstoppable Houston."

"No! We will stop them! We will keep them at bay! Essex and her sisters will come and destroy them. They're _weakening!_ "

"No." Ellen calmly said, dark red slowly creeping down her head, "They are _strengthening_."

"But… I've fought them. They're… becoming _desperate_."

"No. They're _confident_. They smell blood."

"But…"

"They will burn Washington, sack San Francisco. They will break through the Saint Lawrence River, and flood the great lakes with death."

"No..." Houston whispered.

"There's no use denying it anymore. Here, take my hand." Ellen smiled and held out her hand. Houston didn't even seem to notice the blood on it. She sat down next to her. All of a sudden, things felt lighter. The pain from the wound on her waist and leg numbed, and the freezing cold abated. She felt a calmness and warmth wash over her. "See?" Elllen said, "It's not so bad when you accept it."

XXX

Houston head a faint sound coming from the base. Her whole body felt numb, and her hearing seemed muted. "What was that?" She saw that she was resting on Ellen's dead body. For a moment she paused, then she stood up, suddenly alert. She now heard the base's raid siren blaring loudly. She walked around the edge of the barn, and suddenly found herself staring at her bedroom ceiling. Astoria stood over her, and she felt a sharp pain on her cheek.

"Goddamn it, Houston! What does it take to wake you up!?"

She rubbed her cheek. Evidently, Astoria had slapped her to wake her up. "What's going on?" Her voice was almost drowned out by the raid siren.

"What do you think, genius? The Abyssals are coming for the base!"

XXX

Huron looked at the quickly setting sun. Hopefully Haida was enjoying an uneventful night. She could hear Boise coordinating with the other shipgirls. While the cavalry was coming as fast as possible. Her, Boise, and the other destroyers would scout out the Abyssals and possibly engage with the smaller, lead Abyssal group. Since they were already out on the seas for their practice, they would actually get eyes on the Abyssals before the drones that were just dispatched from the base.

While Boise was busy on the radio, she moved over to Boyd.

"Hey Huron." Boyd was a bit more apprehensive than normal. Huron hadn't sortied with her before, so she couldn't tell if this was normal for Boyd or new.

"Hey. Do you think we can safely skirmish with the Abyssals while the cavalry catches up?"

The destroyer's face turned towards Huron and lit up. "Oh, we'll be fine. I'm sorry if I look a bit stern. Don't worry Huron. We'll be fine. There aren't going to be battleships or carriers, so there's nothing there that we, and Boise, can't take on." Her face then turned a bit more sly, "And even if there was, a determined destroyer can bring down even a battleship. You've heard of the battle of the Tin Can Sailors, right?"

Huron nodded. _Mm hmm._

XXX

As the sky darkened, they began to have to rely more on radar. Huron was nervous, but the night was cool and calming. The stars were beautiful, and very clear. The stars were always there, whether she be in Halifax or Alaska.

Then Boise made the first radar contact with the smaller, leading group. "Radar contact! Two o'clock! Wait … there's something weird about their radar signature." Boise paused, rechecking her radar. "This is weird guys. We need to get closer."

The destroyers became a little more anxious. By this time, the group had begun radio silence, so Boise was in command of the group.

"We're going to have to get closer. I can't identify them right now."

XXX

"Ok, this is just weirder now." Boise was very perplexed. "Their radar signature. It's… It's almost like shipgirls…"

And that's when a miraculous, monotone voice came over the radio:

"American _kanmusu_ , please help. We are low on fuel and the Abyssals are pursuing us. This is the Japanese destroyer Hatsuyuki, along with light cruisers Nagara and Kuma."

 _I expect this story to be nearing its conclusion. I'd estimate that, unless I want to put in one more side arc, possibly illuminating what's been going on in east Asia, the story will reach its end somewhere between chapters 14-18._

 _Also, thank you for the feedback and comments! I read every one of them. 3_

 _I hope you enjoy my attempts at foreshadowing so far._


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